May 15, 2017 BEDFORD, Ind. - U.S. Rep. Trey Hollingsworth, Indiana 9th District, visited the Geo-Flo plant in Bedford, Indiana, on April 21. Discussions included the state of the geothermal heat pump industry, as well as Geo-Flo’s encouragement to support H.R. Bill 1090, which would extend the tax credit for investments in energy property with construction that begins before January 1, 2022. The bill includes geothermal technology and other renewables left out of the tax credit extension that included solar installations. As of the date of the visit, there were 59 co-sponsors of the bill introduced by Rep. Tom Reed of New York.

Tom Wyer, company president, gave a brief presentation followed by a factory tour. Part of the presentation included a history of Geo-Flo, which began production in 1988. Wyer provided some background on the geothermal industry and statistics to help provide Hollingsworth and his staff a better understanding of how the geothermal heat pump industry compares to the overall HVAC industry and U.S. manufacturing in general. It’s estimated that around 2,000 people are directly or indirectly employed as a result of the geothermal heat pump industry, just in Indiana. “These are good manufacturing jobs, skilled HVAC installation technicians, and heavy equipment operators; jobs that cannot be exported,” stated Wyer.